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Your morning global affairs speed-read

The United Nations is expected to overwhelmingly approve the Palestinians' bid for non-member observer state status today, over the stringent objections of Israel and the United States. The Obama administration maintains that the move could hurt chances for a two-state solution, but Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says those talks have been going nowhere anyway and this could help the Palestinian cause.

Lawmakers are expected to try to cut funding to some specialized U.N. agencies if the Palestinians seek membership in them. And Republicans are likely to seek to blame Obama for failing to stop the Palestinian bid, even though Abbas appears to have been working to line up international support since at least 2005. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is holding a press conference at noon.

Euro-trade: A delegation of European parliamentarians arrives in Washington today to launch a barrier-free transatlantic market. They're meeting with the Ways and Means Committee behind closed doors on Friday.

Mending bridges: Ukraine's foreign minister, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, arrives in Washington today following disputed parliamentary elections last month that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called “a step backward.”

On the Hill: The House Foreign Affairs Committee's Western Hemisphere panel marks up legislation to shut Argentina out of U.S. capital markets (H.R. 1798). In the morning, the full committee holds a hearing on Israel's right to defend itself with a trio of pro-Israel conservatives.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein hailed the report, saying it showed Washington "could finally close Guantánamo without imperiling our national security."

Susan Rice’s bridge-building visit to Capitol Hill this week left Republicans divided on her possible nomination as secretary of State.

Susan Rice, who might be nominated by President Obama for secretary of State, has stock holdings in the Canadian company that is seeking approval from the State Department to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Rice's holdings in TransCanada Corp., valued at between $300,000 and $600,000, are listed in a financial disclosure report for 2011 that was filed earlier this year.

The holdings open up Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to criticism from environmentalists at a time when she’s already under fire from Republicans over her descriptions of the attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya.

Consideration of the former Republican senator comes as Susan Rice faces controversy over her possible nomination as secretary of State.

President Obama offered praise for his embattled and "extraordinary" U.N. ambassador on Wednesday.

The Tennessee Republican said he would not prejudge the UN ambassador if she gets State Department nod. 

The Senate passed an amendment to the defense bill by voice vote Wednesday that would place more Marines at U.S. consulates and embassies around the world.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced the amendment, saying it was important to prevent more deaths overseas, referring to the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11.